A Snow Capped Romance
by butimbroken
Summary: Buffy/Angel. AU. The Powers That Be matched them up to be perfect soul mates. He wasn't so sure. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Her name had been the first word he had learn to spell, that he had learned to read. Angel had been asking questions about her for as along as long as he could talk, as long as he could remember. He had been wondering about this girl who was out there somewhere in the world his entire life. As he had gotten older, he tried avoid thinking about her much but it wasn't exactly something he could just escape either. Her name was there, always there, to remind him.

The Powers That Be were responsible for these little gift of swirly black lettering on everyone's wrists. Everyone was born to have a true soul mate and it was said that they gave you this one clue to help you finding this so called perfect person for you. The name of your other half was flawlessly embedded on your left wrist - except in special cases where that was simply not possible and then they had freedom to get a little more creative.

Angel had been questioning the why's and the how's about this whole thing for as long as he could remember, too. He had yet to get an answer beyond "it's just how things are done" or "it's just how it's always been." He didn't know how long exactly this whole name situation had been implemented to the people on this planet but gathering from his personal family history it had been a long time standing. His family had quite a history of being "matched" - which included his parents, both sets of his grandparents, and beyond.

Angel looked down at the perfect lettering and quickly flicked his eyes back away again.

"Angel," his mother said softly, taking his hand in hers. He looked down at the sight they made, he hated how cold she felt and how small she looked right now. "I know this is the last thing on Earth you wish to talk about, but please just humor me for awhile?"

He couldn't help but sigh but waved his free hand in the air in front of them to signal she was free to continue on. He sat beside her and listened to the story that he knew by heart... His mother couldn't help but to smile as she spoke of her own experience with being matched to his father. She got this dreamy look upon her face as she began to tell him once more about how her family had moved to town when she was still a newborn, how they'd moved right across the street from another lovely little family, that they'd just had a little boy one month before she'd been born and it didn't take long for them to realize the name situation they had on their hands. It didn't take long for them to know they were in fact the correct people tied to those names either, the two being attached at the hip since toddler age and on up. They were a classic tale to show you the universe had a destiny for you.

Angel never once doubted that his parents were perfect for each other. They were happy, they were in love. The two of them were made to find one another, be together, build the lives they had. But all the same, he had a hard time being a true believer in this whole true soul mate nonsense. And if it were true, he wasn't sure how he really felt about it.

People had done their best to move forward with the times and would try to find new ways to find these people the fates decided they were destined to be with. There were now all sorts of websites now days to try and narrow down these people for you, companies willing to do the work for you... Angel knew that his own sister was a member of several of them and she'd spilled out bits and pieces of how they worked over the years but it still made his head hurt to really sit down and think about it all.

Other people just went with the flow, they left it up to the universe like the good ol' days. They believed they'd just find them on their own somehow, someday.

Then, there were people who just ignored it all and did whatever in the hell they wanted. They didn't care about the match, they just did their own thing.

If something were to happen to your match - if they were no longer alive - then the lettering would fade. That was really the only time something could or would be done to it. You couldn't cut the skin off, it'd just grow back. Extreme situations where people had even chopped their hands off didn't help, it just took up on those special case situations and moved to another part of their body. You couldn't get the ink removed as if it were a tattoo, it wasn't going to budge. You also couldn't cover it up like a tattoo as it would just bleed through anything and everything.

Many people found their soul mates, but not everyone. You could live down the street from them or you could live across the country, across the world even. Maybe you just never knew. Some people could search high and low for their soul mate and come up empty, other people could just bump into their match on the street one day, go start a new job and find this person. The possibilities were really endless.

Some people would go date, maybe go fall in love with someone else who they wanted to be with - fated with them or not. Some people said they'd work it out with their match if and when they came to that point, others didn't worry over it at all. People didn't all care about their destiny and were happy to just follow their own path.

His sister Kathy was a full blown die hard believer and always had been. She endlessly tried to search for her soul mate, she was saving herself for when the time came - if it came. She had absolutely no interest in anyone on the planet if their name wasn't Riley. She made it very clear that this was something never going change. Even if she never found him she didn't care, she didn't want to try and mess with forces beyond her.

He on the other hand had decided he'd just like to avoid the whole thing and just wanted to live his life. If he were to ever find this Buffy woman than he would cross that bridge when he got it. He wondered about her a lot but on the other hand he did wonder what else was out there. He wondered why it was she was chosen for him, why wasn't it someone else? Was there someone else out there who would be even better for him, that maybe the fates didn't know what they were doing. He enjoyed dating, he enjoyed sex... he didn't want to waste his life away on the possibility that the two of them would somehow, someday cross paths. He enjoyed the freedom to develop feelings for whoever he wanted than to let a name on his wrist dictate his life.

His family weren't exactly thrilled with how flippant he was about the whole thing but once they realized how serious he was on it they did their best to just let it lie. Since his mother had fallen ill however she had been pushing the idea of him putting more into who fate had planned for him than wanting him to rebel against it all. He knew she meant well - of course she did - she only wanted to make sure he would okay in this world without her, that he would be happy and he would be loved. But sometimes the whole thing could wear him out.

He was already facing one of his worst fears right now, knowing that soon he would be without her. Soon she would lose the hard battle she'd been waging and would finally be at peace again in some other time and space.

He sat beside her in the small hospital bed and listened as she retold her beautiful love story... which led into her talking about Kathy and Ripley, him and this Buffy girl. Her fingers traced over the perfect letters on his wrist. "I know that you don't want to meet her..."

"That isn't exactly what I said."

She gave a hint of a smile. "I know that you are trying to avoid meeting her. I know that you don't ever want to. But, my son, I can't help but hope that some day you do." She went on to tell both him and his sister who was sitting across the room how she hoped their lives would be beautiful. That she hoped they would both find their soul mates and have a love as their parents had.

OoOoO

After Kathy left with their father to go grab some dinner, he got up to use the restroom and try and freshen up. When he came back out, his mother surprised him with a large white envelope. "What's that?" he asked, taking it from her.

"That is for you to give your sister when you feel the time is right. I found Riley. He lives in Iowa on a farm. He's a very sweet boy."

Angel nearly choked. "You did what? How?" he asked, feeling very confused. "Why are you telling me and not her?"

She smiled a little. "Just trust me, you will know when the time is right."

Angel took it and stared a hole into the paper. "How do you know it's the_ right_ Riley? And how did you find him?"

She patted his hands lightly. "I just do. It's him," she told him. "And your sister is getting one of these as well." Angel swallowed hard. "Don't worry, I never mentioned you or your sister to either one of them. I just wanted to meet them when I still could. I wanted to make sure they were the right people for you both, I wanted to find them... to know they could be found. I needed to know that my babies would be alright."

He had to sit down to try and process this.

"She's very beautiful," his mother said softly. "Very beautiful, very sweet, very funny."

OoOoO

It was less than twenty four hours later when his mother passed, surrounded by the people who loved her most in this world. He'd never felt so lost in his entire life in that moment, and the many that followed. And he couldn't even begin to describe the toll it was taking on his father. He was trying to be strong for them, but it wasn't hard to see through it.

Being in love like this... here was a prime example of why it worried Angel so much. Half of his entire world was suddenly gone. That hurt had to be more than one person should have to handle.

OoOoO

When their father died just a few short months later, it was an odd experience. Of course he was sad, he left alone all over again, but there was a peace to it. He knew that his parents were together again. His mother no longer suffered, and now his father no longer did either.

Kathy was falling apart, though. He had a condo halfway across the world, he had a job that kept him busy, a whole life away from here. Kathy had stayed close to home, she lived at home even while starting classes, she was taking it all harder in many ways than he was.

With a sigh, he came to sit by her on the couch. She cuddled the pillow in her lap closer to her body as she tried to stop from crying. Again. "I'm thinking of moving back. Not here specifically but I got a few job offers in the area. I thought I might take up on them. Try something new for awhile."

"You don't have to uproot your life, Angel."

"I'm not. Just making a few changes. Change isn't always a bad thing."

"I was also thinking... you need this," he said and pulled out the envelope his mother had given him from underneath his jacket.

"She said she couldn't find him," Kathy said, her eyes wide.

"She probably knew if she admitted that she had you'd bother me endlessly about it."

"That could be true..."

"So. Do you want it?"

"Yes!" she said and snatched it out of his hand. Turning it over, she looked over at him. "You didn't look at it?"

"No."

"I looked at yours," she told him and he laughed at the face she made as she said it. He watched as she began opening it up. "She's _pretty._"

"So I was told."

"If you looked at her I think you'd be flying off to California in the next five minutes."

"California?"

"Whoops," she said then took a deep breath and flipped the contents she laid out into her lap over. The first thing was a large and glossy photo of a very tall blonde man with his mother. Kathy nearly squealed as she held it up, staring. There was also a note from their mother and a few other small odds and ends. Kathy was back in tears as she read the letter but they were more like happy tears now than just pure sadness.

OoOoO

While Angel worked on moving back to the United States, getting set up at his new gallery, found a new apartment and all... his sister was getting used to her new relationship and big changes in her own life. She'd wasted very little time making her way to Iowa to find this farm boy of hers. Riley had grown up there and had returned home after a few years doing time in the military. They'd hit it off and never looked back.

While he was getting settled, Riley was moving from farm life to big city life, not even stopping to guess if following Kathy half way across the country was a good idea or not.

Angel kept his mouth shut, she was happy, she got what she wanted. Riley didn't seem like such a bad guy but he wasn't so sure they'd be the best of friends, either. Time would tell.

Kathy kept asking him if he wanted to see his envelope but his mind hadn't changed over that.


	2. Chapter 2

Making a few finishing touches to the blonde woman's hair, Angel put his pencil back down on the sketch pad and popped his knuckles a few times before linking his hands behind his head and stretching. Various bones cracked as he moved and when he arched his back against the chair he fought the urge to groan. He'd been sitting here for longer than he realized. Angel thanked the young waitress who brought him over another refill and complimented on his latest little portrait as she smacked her blue cotton candy gum. It was making him hungry.

He picked the large pad back up and flipped through the last couple of pages. He'd been enjoying people watching and just doodling as the mood struck. His latest exhibit had been more stressful than he expected going in to it. He had agreed to do five sets of themed series or the gallery and found it wasn't his most favorite thing in the world. He rather enjoyed the freedom to do whatever he wanted more than trying to force something to fit the mold.

It was much more appealing to doodle something that came to mind whenever he wanted, or to sketch random faces on the street, or paint a beautiful landscape as he pleased.

All the same, he was glad his latest exhibit had been having a good opening week so far. And it wasn't horrible to challenge himself, either. He liked the distraction sometimes.

When his waitress came back around he asked her if he could get an order of an appetizer combo sampler. He put his art supplies off the side and decided he better eat before he forgot to. Again. Kathy had been so worried about him lately and the last thing he needed was her having more reasons to worry about him.

OoOoO

Angel was about to leave when he saw the first few flakes falling. Beyond that, the group of children caught his attention and he couldn't help but smile at the joy on their faces as they turned them toward the sky, stuck their tongues out and tried to catch some of the falling snow.

He quickly reached back into his bag and pulled out an art pad and some old colored pencils and quickly captured the moment before knocking on the window to show them. Little faces lit up and about made his day.

He found himself a lot less enthusiastic about the weather once he was out in it. The wind picked up and felt like it was going right through him, it also seemed as though the snow was falling harder by the moment.

OoOoO

By morning, the snow was almost to his knees.

Having a craving for something from his favorite donut shop, he walked around the small group of teenagers who were having a snowball fight and making snow angels.

He had just placed his order when one of the girls he recognized from a few moments ago came inside, shaking and stomping some of the snow off of herself before coming up to the counter. "Still coming down out there?" the guy behind the counter asked her.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked with a huge smile, still looking at all the options.

"You must not be from around here."

She laughed. "Nope. Not at all. This is my first time ever seeing snow. I couldn't be more excited though! It's so pretty." She took one of her gloves off and reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a little piece of paper before asking if she could have one of what he'd just ordered. "I have three days left of my trip and I was advised you have the best coffee and crullers in town."

"Sorry, Miss. Just sold my last one," Willie told her.

She pouted a little and his white bag was brought over him. Angel paid but found himself glancing back at the girl. With a shake of his head he asked Willie to get him a new order and he slid the bag over to the blonde. She looked at him then the bag. He watched her read the little sticker tag on the front then look back at him. "Oh, no. You don't have to do that."

He waved her off. "It wouldn't seem right to let you leave town without one," he told her.

The blonde turned as the dark haired girl she'd been outside with came in, followed by a tall male. The brunette shot him a sultry look before throwing an arm around the blonde. "I'm in the mood for a long john."

"Why do I feel like you're not talking about a pastry?" the boy muttered and both girls laughed.

OoOoO

"Are you having a stroke?" Angel asked as Kathy made a lot of random noises among going "How? Where? When?"

His very pregnant sister waddled closer to the table that had all the random drawings he'd done the past few days scattered all over it. She picked one up and turned back to face him and began pointing at the gray sheet. "What is this?"

He glanced up and shrugged. "It was a girl at Willie's this morning. There's another one in there of her friend."

Kathy made another bout of noises before putting it down. "I'll be back," she told him.

"Where are you going? You just got here."

She held up a hand and shook her head. "I'll be back," she repeated.

OoOoO

As soon as he opened the door, Kathy flung a photo into his hand. He wrinkled up his forehead for a moment before stepping out of the way to let her back in. He lifted the photo then turned it right side up and his eyes went wide.

Kathy was burning a hole in him.

"They look similar," he offered, looking at his mother's smiling face in the photo then the young girl standing beside her.

"They look exactly the same! Don't start with me!"

"Okay, fine. Let's say this is the girl... Buffy. Okay. So, I passed her in a little hole in the wall. There weren't fireworks shooting off, Kath. There wasn't an overwhelming sense of love in the air... or whatever."

"But she stood out to you - even if just a little."

"So? Look at that whole table's worth of people who had the same effect."

"Do you have to be impossible?" she growled, clearly frustrated. She flung the rest of his envelope at him and went to grab a soda from his fridge and sat down on his couch stewing.

"You don't even know that it's her..." he tried then gave up. Angel sighed and started reading the last note he'd get from his mother.

OoOoO

Angel found himself at Willie's the next morning asking if that girl or her friends had been back in. He'd gotten a raised eyebrow but he was thankful it didn't go beyond that. He felt a little sad to hear that Willie hadn't seen her since but pushed it away.

Whether the blonde lady was the same one as the picture, the same one his mother thought was "his" Buffy or not he didn't see how it changed anything. Just as he told his sister, there was no love at first sight moment with the girl or some major shift in the universe like he'd expect. It didn't stop him from still being against this whole "soul mate" nonsense.

OoOoO

Angel, Kathy and Riley were walking along the familiar walls of his favorite free art museum in town the following day when he spotted her again. She had the largest styrofoam cup he thought he'd ever seen in his life in her hands and was biting on the neon green straw with her head tilted as she looked at the piece in front of her.

Another girl with red hair came up behind her and did the same head tilt.

He stared for a moment before Kathy's laughter brought him back to reality and he hurried to get her to turn down another pathway. He thought he was in the free and clear until turning another corner.

"Well, hello again," the leather clad girl greeted. "If it isn't the donut shop guy."

"Faith, stop harassing the poor guy," the same male called out. Angel could see him rolling his eyes from the end of the hallway.

Kathy recognized her from his other sketch, he hoped she hadn't but he knew in an instant she had. "Don't you have a blonde friend?"

He groaned.

Faith, as it were, smirked. "Why, yes I do." She turned her head a little and shouted, "Hey! B! Where you at?" She obviously didn't care how that knowledge was acquired at all.

It wasn't long before the blonde and red haired females were finding their way to them. The blonde, this B lady, smiled a little as their eyes met.

"Look who I found," Faith nearly sang.

"So I see. Hi again."

He nodded, clenching his jaw. "Hi."

"Hi, I'm Kathy," his sister quickly said. "This is my husband Riley and this is my brother." He never loved her more than in that moment where she failed to mention his name. "Not many people come out here anymore. We're usually the only ones walking around when we visit anymore."

"Maybe they're a group of art enthusiasts," Riley said with a shrug.

Faith snorted and shook her head. "Not even close."

The blonde made a face. "Yeah, not really. I mean... it's all pretty but... I see a drawing of three triangles and that's all I see, three triangles. Whatever deeper meaning it's supposed to represent escapes me."

"At least you can cross it off your list," the red haired girl said.

"List?" Kathy asked.

The blonde rolled her eyes a little. "It's silly. I have a list of places I always wanted to see in New York if I ever made it and I also have another list a stranger gave me once when I told her about my plans years ago. I always held on to it for some reason. I have been trying to do as much as I could the past several days."

"Can I see?" Kathy asked.

The blonde shrugged and pulled it out, handing it over.

Kathy began reading a few of the items on it. Willie's of course was on it, this museum and two others - including the one he currently had a showing going on at, his favorite pizza place... "Wow," Kathy breathed out. "Someone must have had good taste," she told, staring daggers at him as she handed the paper back over.

The girl with red hair looked around for a moment. "I still haven't found the bathroom," she mumbled. "Other than that display... which we can all be thankful I didn't actually use."

The blonde laughed. "Here, let's go look around. It was nice seeing you again, meeting you all?"

"I can show you," Kathy blurted out. "We've been coming here almost all our lives, I can show you."

OoOoO

Kathy couldn't help but stare at the wrist of the blonde girl as she had taken her long jacket off in the restroom and was now moving the large amount of bracelets out of the way to wash her hands. "Angel," she breathed, reading the bold black lettering.

The blonde looked down at her wrist and blushed a little. "Yeah..."

Faith came out and took up the sink next to her. "I still say it's Angel like the guy on Dexter. And that is why we need to to Puerto Rico or Mexico or somewhere next summer, Buf."

"Where are you guys from?"

"California," all three girls answered this time. "Originally anyway, we're a little spread out right now because of school."

"We have this idea to at least attempt to meet up around Thanksgiving/Christmas time and again through each summer and do something fun, take some big trip or whatever," the blonde explained with a shrug.

OoOoO

"Well, again.. thank you and everything," the blonde trailed off before running off to join back up with her friends.

Kathy elbowed him hard in the ribs. "What?" he whispered.

"She has Angel on her wrist," she whispered back. "Her friend has called her B and Buf. She looks exactly like the girl in the picture and in one of the largest cities in the world you have managed to run into her twice in the past two days. That is what."

OoOoO

"How was the cruller?"

The blonde nearly jumped. She was checking her phone outside the doors as her friends were a few feet away lost in discussion about something. "Amazing actually. Thank you again."

"What'd you think?" he asked, his head nodding back toward the building.

"It was interesting. Some of it went over my head though, but it wasn't a bad way to spend a couple hours. I got lots of pictures so that makes me happy."

"Are you a photographer?"

She shook her head. "No, just something I like to do for fun. And I like documenting new places I go."

He nodded, sticking his hands into his pockets. "This is the first place that ever gave me a shot," he told her. "It was a big deal to a pre-teen."

"I'd bet."

He pulled a card out from his pocket and handed it over. "Maybe if you have time before you leave... this a big of a newer museum. It's not far from here. I have about three walls covered right now."

She looked impressed, taking it from him. "I'll have to now, I didn't know I was running into someone famous."

He chuckled. "Not famous."

"Suuure."

"I'm just a guy."

"Yeah. A famous artist guy. Who's very nice to tourist and buy them amazing donuts."

Angel shrugged. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit."

He walked away and as soon as he reached the car he couldn't help but look back at her. She was hanging up her phone again before looking over the little card he'd given her. He could have laughed at the face she made as she read it.


	3. Chapter 3

She looked nervous which strangely made him much calmer than he had been just minutes ago as he'd paced around and kept looking at the door anytime someone new would arrive. He noted that she had come alone and how she stayed near the door as if she wanted to be ready to escape. The museum was only open a couple hours today and he'd been here since the doors had unlocked.

After making his way toward her, Angel held out a hand. She looked like she was going to say something but shook it off and grabbed it. He tried to look at the hidden ink but he couldn't make anything out with the large collection of gold bracelets in the way. Together they walked in silence for a few moments until he got to his little part of the show.

"These are all yours?"

He pointed to show her exactly where his art began and ended. He didn't miss her doing similar as he held his arms out, staring a hole where she knew he'd have a name written. As she began to look around and he'd ask her what she thought of various paintings, he undid the top button his shirt, as well as the cuffs which he rolled up halfway to his elbows.

It was a few minutes before she realized what he'd done. When she did notice her green eyes grew nearly double in size. And somehow they managed to get wider as Cordelia Chase came up behind him out of nowhere and began recklessly flirting with him. "I-I should go," the blonde quickly said, a blush staining her cheeks. "Thank you so much for inviting me to come out and look at everything. Everything is l-lovely."

"Buffy..." he said softly but she was already moving so fast as he tried to untangle himself for Cordy.

OoOoO

"Hey," he called softly after her once he finally caught up.

She spun around and took a step closer to him. "Did you know who I was?"

"When?"

She let out a huge breathe of air, it fogged up in front of her. "I don't know. At the donut place?"

"No."

"After? I mean... obviously... but when? How did you know who I was?" He sighed and reached into his wallet to pull out the picture of his mother. He handed it over and watched her unfold it, her face scanning it to try and place it then when she did she looked back up at him. "She gave me that list."

"I figured... after you said something about it." He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the closest brick wall and began explaining what had happened. He couldn't help but shake his head about it all, his mother had been determined, he had to give her that.

She looked back down at the photo. "I was working part time at the diner when they came in. It probably wouldn't have been that memorable... they ordered and it was a slow night so it wasn't that surprising to find myself bored and chatting up with people passing through," she told him. "I mentioned about how I was going to be so excited in a few years to start to travel and see the world once I graduated high school... and she made me that list, handed it over to me and told me to use it if I ever did make it out here. I got a huge tip and she... your mother... she asked if I would take a funny photo with her and a regular one. I just went with it. She never said a word about..."

"She wouldn't have," he butted in. "She got creative instead." He had to give her credit for that, too.

Buffy was quiet for another few moments before handing him the picture back. "You didn't want to meet me," she suddenly said.

"No," he admitted. "Not really."

She gave a hint of a smile. "Sorry."

Angel shook his head.

"L-like I said, I should go. I have a flight to catch in a few hours and I still need to pack and there's a few things I've yet to do so... S-sorry I kind of ruined those plans and everything."

Angel hated the sinking feeling her words combined with the look on her face put inside his stomach. "Where are you going?"

She turned around again. "Um... me and my friends were going to meet up. Kind of decided on a last place to grab some food and maybe one more big attraction."

"Would you come with me for the meal then meet up with them by any chance?"

"I think you have people waiting back inside for you."

He shrugged. "Not really, they'll be alright."

She seemed to debate it internally before nodding. "I guess."

OoOoO

He must have stared at her wrist enough times because while they waited for their food, Buffy removed the gold circles from her small arm and placed them off to the side. Sure enough, he was seeing with his own eyes the neat scroll of his name right there staring back at him. He couldn't help but notice how she seemed even more nervous without it being shielded and wondered what that was about but didn't think that was a good ice breaker at the moment.

"Why here?"

"Hmm?"

"Why here? I mean, I get about you and your friends wanting to meet up and do a big trip... just.. why here. You were interested in making this trip for years on top of that."

"Oh. Um.. It's a little dumb. My dad lives out here. He left me and my mom when I was about five... he was in LA for awhile then moved around a few times. I was maybe twelve or thirteen when I ever heard from him again and he sent me a post card talking about all these fun things we would do, talking everything up, you know. And I was just at that age I guess and thought it was really going to happen and... I just got excited and obsessed with learning anything I could for awhile. Then, even as I got older I couldn't shake the idea of maybe someday seeing him again, seeing my half sister..."

"Did you see him?"

She shook her head. "Oh, absolutely not. He has zero interest in me. There's no happy reunion thing going to happen there and this was supposed to be a fun, carefree time... not drama and crying and asking why I wasn't worth sticking around for situation."

"Were your parents not matched?"

Again, a shake of the head. "No. They met in high school at a prom and decided they knew more than the universe, consequences be damned and all that. They got married soon out of high school, I came into the picture, they had a rough few years before calling it quits. The last I knew Hank - my dad - was on marriage number three, still not with his so-called soul mate... just doing his thing. My mom met hers though and they're happily together. Giles is great."

"I'm sorry about your dad."

"It's okay. You can't force someone to want you." It didn't take much to know she was meaning well beyond Hank in that statement. "Were your parents?"

Angel took a sip of his water before answering. "Yeah," he told her and briefly told her their infamous story. "Not just them either, grandparents on both sides, great-grandparents and so on. They're all pretty proud of their history on all that."

OoOoO

"This all feels very surreal."

"How so?"

"You don't think it is?" she asked. "It's just... I've spent my whole life with a name on my body, spent countless hours of my life tracing it over with my finger, imagining... you... trying to imagine what in the world I would ever want to say to you or ask you about... imagining a million ways of how I would even ever come across you... and none of this was ever in any of those daydreams. I used to try and see if I even had an inkling of a crush on any girl with, you know, the name and all... or maybe it was more a Hispanic thing going on... or just a cute nickname or whatever else.. and I also feel like my mind just went blank and is staying that way as I don't even know what I want to know about you. Like, what can be crammed in the next twenty or so minutes to take back with me and kind of have a peace about I guess."

"How about we just do a flash session. Whatever pops into your mind."

"Okay," she agreed.

"Alright then. One, two, three... go."

OoOoO

Buffy was laughing so hard as she answered her phone, it'd probably been the tenth phone call she'd gotten and had finally answered. She told him she really needed to before they started sending a search party out thinking the worst or something. He sat back as he watched her put her bracelets back on and assure her friends she was coming in just a few minutes.

"Thank you again... for everything. It was truly nice to meet you... Angel." She held out a hand for him to shake and it felt weird but he grabbed her hand in his for a moment.

"Maybe if you're ever back out my way..." he trailed off.

She smiled. "Absolutely. That would be fun."

She stayed with him as they made their way to the counter. She tried to pay for her own meal but he wasn't having any of that and she finally gave up the argument. Hailing her a cab, he helped her inside and waved goodbye after shutting the door behind her.

OoOoO

"Wait. So you... you just let her go?"

"What would you have expected me to do? Kidnap her and bring her home?"

Kathy rolled her eyes and rubbed her stomach. "You are going to stress this baby right out of me, Angel."

"I met her. You should be happy."

"Well, I'm not. None of this is how you are supposed to react - at all. I'm starting to feel sorrier for this girl by the damn minute," she huffed.

"Kathy, I like it. She's pretty and funny and what little time I was around her was enjoyable. I don't know what you want."

"You know exactly what I want, Angel. Don't play dumb. I want you to get to know her and I want you to get one of those ah-ha moments where you realize the universe knew what it was doing. I want you to take a chance on the fact of yes, right now, you probably don't feel like running after her, proposing marriage and kids and some sort of forever but maybe you would eventually get there. Don't act like you didn't go in with some big ass wall built up between you and her trying to make sure none of those feelings even dared to seep in."

"You're putting too much on this, Sister."

She growled. "I wish mom were here." He did't respond to that. "You know, the weather's been picking up. Flights are being cancelled left and right. And just maybe she's being grounded for a little bit longer. And maybe that's a sign of something. And maybe if you'd open your eyes you would see that. But... keep doing what you're doing, Angel. And let the person that the gods or whatever put on the planet with you in mind. Let her get on the first available flight back home, let her disappear like none of it even happened. Keep having meaningless flings with beautiful women all over the world rather than find a relationship with meaning. I give up."

OoOoO

Angel's jaw clenched as he put the drawing he'd done days ago back down. He didn't like the strange anxious feeling he'd gotten after his sister had left. He hadn't exactly exchanged a lot of information with Buffy and had no idea where she was or how to contact her. Going out to the airport in hopes she was there despite the cancellations and even trying to find her in endless throngs of people seemed ridiculous. Just sitting around made him uneasy, though.

Glancing at the black and white sketch again, he asked out loud to the otherwise empty apartment, "Why her?"

Closing his eyes and tipping his head back he tried to mentally list all the reasons why she was going to be better off without him and him without her.

OoOoO

It was late, Angel was barely able to keep his eyes open as he tried to finish this one last chapter of the book he was working his way through. He yawned again and debated saving this final page for tomorrow when he heard a knock on the door. Groaning, he wondered if it was the woman who lived directly below him. They'd been here about three months and she sure spent a lot of time and effort on trying to carry on an affair behind her husband's back. Even though he'd turned her down several times now, he'd still get a random knock at the door some nights.

He set the book down and tried to get more settled in the large bed, ignoring whoever it was.

Another knock.

Then another.

Sighing, he decided whoever it was they weren't hurrying away. Getting out of bed, he made the walk through the large apartment. He rubbed his eyes then looked out the peep home, nearly having his legs go out from under him as he saw Buffy on the other side of his door.

"Hi," she greeted nervously.

"Hi."

"I kind of... Facebook stalked your brother-in-law, which led to your sister, who then..." she trailed off. "I was okay, you know. We met and it was weird and not at all like I ever thought, I got to know random things about you, we had a good story there. You know. It had a good end point, I got in a cab and drove away and... we never saw one another again type thing. I was all in the whirl wind and caught up in everything going on and... that could have been that. Then, I'm not able to go home and I'm still here and everything feels really wrong," she rushed out in nearly one breath.

"I have to tell you... it stinks. You not being interested in me or us or whatever... I've tried to brush that off and play it cool but it kind of stinks to be honest. I can't make you like me. You could literally have any woman I'm sure on the planet so it makes sense you wouldn't want to settle for me but-"

Angel couldn't think of anything else to do so he took her cheek in the palm of his hand, bent down and captured her lips with his own to cut that train of thought off right there. Buffy made some sort of noise but then just gave in, she relaxed against him and returned the kiss with what felt like everything she had. And in that moment he felt like maybe he really was doomed to believe in all this true love, soul mate, matched for life nonsense...

**The End.**


End file.
